364 
Changes at Waini Moutö. 
or s^^ eets, kinkajous often make raids on the bees' nests, when their thick 
fur protects them from being stung. Besides fruits they also devour 
small mammals, birds, and iusects: they are found more frequently on 
the coast than in the interior. 
880. The banks of the ^Vaini from here down had assumed quite the 
character of a coastal stream and with inward dread we again found 
ourselves euclosed between mangrove and curida bushes, and heard the 
dull humming of innumerable mosquitoes. In the course of the after- 
noon we passed the mouth of the Luri w hich Hows into the Waini from 
the East and as we were unable to lind any dry place on the swampy 
waterside to land at, liail (o eontiuue our journey during the night. 
The silence was only broken by our groans over the bloodthirsty 
mosquitoes, the noise of the howling apes and the wandering troops of 
CuIIitJiri.v sciurca, or tlie splashing of the scared Avater-fowl. During 
the night we proceeded past the moutli of the Buruwaiwini, which is 
about 6 miles from Luri and also flows into the Waini on the same shore. 
Some distance below its mouth, the bed of the Waini suddenly 
broadens out into three large lagoons and then just as suddenly 
returns to its original widlli. The third of these lagoons, which is sit- 
uated about 2 miles from the estuary, presents a sheet of Avater certainly 
2,000 feet across. Towards midday we got to Waini mouth and the weli- 
known shell bank lay in I rout of ns. The most active life now reigned 
here, numbers of corials A\ere crossing the mouili backwaids and for- 
wards, and houses rose on the barren flats over whieh the glorious red 
ibis and, the white egi'et were winging their Might. But [ hardly recog 
nised our old camping-gronnd again: the whole shape of it had altered 
so much. High breakers were now rolling in on where we had pitched 
our tents, and whei'e we used to catch our fish, waterfowl of all kinds 
now strutted up and down along the moist ground. The whole bank was 
changed and where before we had hardly noticed a 2 to 3 ft. low^ mangrove 
bush, we were now confronted with a 10 to 20 ft. high forest. Still 
more altered however than tlie outward configuration of the bank was 
the life that we now found occupying it, considering that at least 200 
Indians were gathered on it and that corials were arriving and leaving 
for the purpose of receiving and taking away the 'quantities of dried and 
smoked fish as well as the numbers of l»askets filled with crabs. Even 
whole families of coloured people turned up to spend so favourable a 
time here fishing, and to dry nnd smoke the sjioils. Amongst the In- 
dians I soon recognised many an old acquaintance from the Barima 
and Aruka. 
887. In spite of the strong sea-breeze the air was nevertheless regu- 
larly vitiated with the cast off and decaying bits of fish. Hook and net 
were in continual nsel. A large sheath-fish, KillbaoTC of the Tolonists, 
would be particularly caught with the former: the tasty Querriman 
(Mvgil liza) in the latter. "According to the statements of trustworthy 
men, the gullet of the former, like that of the Lau-lau, forms a haven of 
refuge when danger threatens for the young fry that are ever swimming 
around their mothers' head: Dr. Haneock thus rejates that a large Kill- 
bagre, on being caught and brought to land, spat out from three to four 
